


What are you thinking about?

by katouis



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24485644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katouis/pseuds/katouis
Summary: Korra is one of the most important swimmers of the moment while Asami is a star student who writes in the student newspaper and has a hangover friend.Or, in which Asami has to interview Korra and they just jump into things, several times
Relationships: Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato, Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 140





	What are you thinking about?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy! I'm sorry for the grammar mistakes.

The first time she sees her, she is nineteen, it’s a Saturday morning and she could be perfectly in her room editing her critique of the administration's decision to cut funding for research, but Mako has asked her to cover him in an interview because his hangover is eating him alive.

She is probably not the best choice for the interview — she had never seen a swimming competition in her life, much less imagined that it would take her most of her morning —, but she knows that no one else will likely do Mako the favor because he never does one. Also, it’s something she could take advantage of in the future.

So she sits in the stands, listening to music and using her tape recorder so that Mako can later play the competition's comments, until people start to get up and she understands that it's time to look for the winner, whose name appears on screens like Korra. She doesn’t know who she is, even when she remembers that at the beginning they introduced each participant.

She approaches one of the volunteers to ask where she can find her, and he just tells her to wait for a girl with tanned skin and blue eyes to come out of the dressing room.

And Asami didn't really know how her mind would have described her, but it's definitely not at all the smiling girl who comes out drying her hair and talking to another swimmer.

“Hi, excuse me” she says approaching from the side, “I’m Asami Sato, from the Kyoshi Daily”

The girl takes a small jump in surprise, but quickly recovers, “Hi, Asami, how can I help you?”

“Hmm, can I ask you a few questions?” as she asks, the other swimmer sighs and slaps Korra behind the back as a goodbye, so they are left alone.

“Can we do the interview while seated?” Korra begs, placing her hands together.

So they sit on the chairs near the pool, and Asami doesn't want to admit it but she looks at Korra's exercised arms a little more than she should.

“So… Korra?” she raises an eyebrow, reading the first question while the recorder is on, “How would you describe this competition?”

“Really easy for me, really hard for them” Korra chuckles, still drying her long hair.

Asami nods not really being amused by her comment, “Can you tell me about your training?”

“Well, as a freshman I would say my training was mainly my career before this,” the tan girl shrugs, “But with Mr. Tenzin, our coach, it was mainly using the university’s gym and doing a lot of work in the pool the past few weeks”

At the comment she saw the perfect opportunity to adapt the interview instead of asking Mako’s open questions, “Freshman, ah? What are you studying?”

“Music,” the girl says while leaning on the back of the chair and stretching her legs, in a relaxed position, “I didn’t really want to come, but my parents told me I have to have a backup plan, in case something happens, and the university had a scholarship waiting for me, what about you?”

The question takes her by surprise and the words don't seem to come out of her mouth at first, but Korra smiles waiting for the answer.

“The dynamic is that I ask you, not you asking me” she tries to explain, but the girl doesn't give up.

“Come on, I have been doing interviews since I was like twelve, and I suppose you make a lot of interviews too. It just gets boring to be always so one-sided”

Asami takes a deep breath, finally giving in just because it's true what the pretty girl says, “I’m on my third year in mechanical engineering”

“Oh, so you’re like a math lady” Korra wiggles her eyebrows, making her giggle.

“Not really, I think” she disagrees, reminding herself that she is there for a reason, “But hey, let’s go back to the questions. So, why did you choose swimming?”

The girl narrows her eyes, tilting her head, “I don’t feel like I chose swimming, but swimming chose me... but that wouldn’t make sense to you, so let’s say that I come from a place where we’re surrounded by water and I have a competitiveness problem”

“Where is that, may I ask?” she truly wants to know, because she doesn’t find any particular accent in her.

“The Southern Water Tribes” Korra replies quickly in an enthusiastic tone.

She had read the name a couple of times in the newspaper, but nothing too deep to remember exactly what.

Korra takes advantage of her momentary silence to ask another question, “Why did you choose the university’s journal?”

She doesn't even try to fight, saying the same answer she always gives, “In high school I had a blog with some friends where we talked a little bit about everything, we gained popularity and when I got here everyone seemed to know us, and they offered me a column. I don’t know if you’ve heard about me, I’m loved and hated here”

Korra laughs and straightens her back, “So that’s the experience of being recognized, I wish I had that”

“Well, you’re just a freshman” she tries to reassure her, “If you keep in the swimming team I’m sure you’re going to get recognized”

“The thing, Asami” she begins to explain and she feels a little emotion to hear her name in that accent, “Is that I’m not _just_ a freshman, I've been competing professionally since I was ten and last year I participated in the Olympic games”

At her ignorance of the facts, Asami blushes. She had just told someone who participated in such an important event that she was just a freshman. She feels like she should tattoo ‘idiot’ in her forehead.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t know, I’m not really the sport type” she admits, “What was it like?”

“You want the professional version or the informal one?” Korra raises her eyebrow.

“Why not both?”

Korra giggles and nods, “It was a though competition, you know? I was sixteen, and everyone seemed to have a bunch of experience, but I followed my coach’s advices and managed to win a second place”

Asami was even more impressed; at sixteen she just stayed in her garage trying to figure out how to make her own lightsaber.

“But in the real version, although I met many great people in competitions, when I did not compete or practice,” Korra continues, “My coach forced me to lock myself in the room without using the television or being able to call my family, I was completely isolated. Later I realized that it was for my own good, but those days certainly did not feel the bests of my life”

“Is going to the Olympics again one of your goals?” she asks, immediately regretting how stupid the question sounds, but Korra doesn’t think it that way and she uses for the first time a serious tone.

“It's one of my long-term goals, yes, but for now I want to get a good place on the team and be able to experience what student life is like, I was homeschooled so I don’t really know”

Asami smiles remembering that in one of her columns from last year, she had written about home schooled students and their experience on campus, “Were you homeschooled because of your career?”

“Partly yes and partly no,” Korra winkles her nose, “My mom is a teacher and my dad is very overprotective, so when a kid made fun of me in first grade, my parents decided to leave me at home and that improved my practice time. By the time I was fourteen and wanted to return to a normal school, I saw that I no longer had time for that. What about you? Normal school?”

Asami sighs. She doesn’t like talking about that stage of her life, “I attended a private school where everyone hated me because I was a year ahead and they made horrible comments to me every day, until I met my friends and everything became lighter. I don't know what I would have done without them, and I'm glad we've all been accepted here”

“I’m glad you are here too,” Korra confess standing up from her chair, “This has been a great interview but I’m really hungry, what are you doing the rest of the day?”

“Why do ask?” she raises her eyebrow.

“Hey, did you think this was a free talk?” the tan girl jokes with her hands on her sides, only making Asami look her arms again and blush, “But it’s ok if you can’t I-“

But Asami cuts her off, standing up too, “I hope you pay for my time, dumbass”

 **and**.

Months seem to pass at the speed of light after that day. Having accepted that lunch, and the one that followed and the one after that, is one of the best decisions of her life.

The thing with making friends with Korra is that at first everything is very slow because of the problems in organizing their times to meet, but as she introduces her to her best friends Opal, Bolin and Mako, they start going out at nights, to be invite each other to watch movies, to try new things like fishing; and suddenly they start making a big part of each other’s life.

They spend as much time as possible together, Asami even spends her afternoons doing her homework and writing her columns on the pool seats while Korra trains with the team, and they even start to share the habit of running before class and going to the gym just to be by each other side.

Being around Korra feels like a blessing, even when it's not just the two of them. The girl radiates so much energy that even Mako, who always lived in a bad mood, slowly begins to laugh more. Korra is simply energy and encourages everyone around her to watch her turn to electricity in her tank tops and bathing suits.

“What are you thinking about?” Korra puts aside the book to face her.

They are lying down in a bed, the typical Sunday afternoon routine in which they order food at home and take the opportunity to study or watch series. Korra is leaning against the wall, and Asami has her head resting on her muscular thighs.

“About what are we going to do for your birthday” she lies, not wanting to admit she’s thinking about them, “Turning eighteen is a big deal, you won’t need your fake identification again”

In a week, Korra is finally coming of age and she actually knows what she's going to do to her. Together with her friends, they have decided to take her to her dad's beach house and make a fire with Bolin playing the guitar, a chocolate cake — Korra's favorite—, and to practice water sports that had nothing to do with swimming.

“It’s really ok if we just stay here” Korra shrugs, without taking her eyes off her, and Asami wonders what she has done in her life to have the opportunity to have those bright blue eyes that radiate innocence on her, “I’d like if my birthday is just you and I”

However, when they arrive at the beach, Korra seems to have no problem with the surprise, thanking them over and over again.

That November day, Mako and Wu, a photographer for the newspaper he started dating a few months ago, lie on the sand while Opal and Bolin, who are going to be five years together, fly a dragon kite on the beach, and Asami finishes waxing the surfboard with which she is going to teach Korra.

“But the water most be like” Korra squeals, “so fucking cold”

“I’m pretty sure the Southern Water Tribe lakes are colder” she laughs, standing up and losing her attention for a moment at Korra’s swimsuit, which is nothing like the one she uses in the university.

Having shared with her more moments than she could admit, of course she has seen Korra’s body. She has detailed it as much as possible, having almost memorized every muscle in her back. However, there is something special about appreciating the swimmer's abdomen and legs in the swimsuit she had bought for her.

Before proceeding to enter the water, she explains a little more about how to climb the board, and when Korra seems ready, they walk together to the shore of the empty beach. Asami has the best memories with her parents on that beach; even her mother had prompted her to start surfing there.

She holds the board under her arm and takes Korra's smooth hand to guide her, however when the water reaches her knees, Korra refuses to go any further.

“Dude, it’s so fucking cold!” she cries, but still not letting her hand go.  
“What would your father, the Chief of a town literally in the pole, think about you crying because of a six degrees water?”

Korra narrows her eyes in protest at his mocking tone and sticks out her tongue. She’s literally a child.

“It’s easier if you just jump into the water” she advises her, still holding her hand.

But Korra is stubborn and starts walking really slow until it’s the moment for getting on the table. They are positioned a bit far to the shore, where Asami who holds the edge of the board trying to stay afloat, knows perfectly well that waves will soon arrive. Korra is on the table, looking at Bolin and Opal at the distance.

“It’s all about the balance” she suddenly comments, breaking the silence between them.

“It is?”

“Pretty much” she runs her hand over her face, trying to remove some unruly hair that was carried away by the light breeze, “It’s about the communication and the respect between you and the sea, you know? For this to work you need to know what’s the weaves’ next move, and when you are really into it you can simply hear them saying it”

Korra smiles softly at the comment.

Although their surf lessons do not bear much satisfactory fruit, they still have a good time, playing and chatting about the finals and the upcoming competitions. It is at night when the real birthday occurs. They gather around the mahogany table in the garden, between the house and the sea, and they cannot be happier. They sing happy birthday and uncover a bottle of champagne and a bottle of whiskey, allowing Korra to drink for the first time legally.

Obviously, after those, many others follow and Wu has to take Mako to lie down in one of the rooms when he hits rock bottom, leaving the rest alone. Opal has her head on Bolin, who has recently become the captain of the soccer team, and Korra has her legs tucked against his chest. They are playing never I have ever.

“Never I have ever wished someone was naked,” Bolin says, and all of them drink.

“That’s kind of gross, if you really think about it,” Opal frowns, and Asami nods, “Ok, my turn, never I have ever kissed my best friend”

Bolin and Opal drink, but they don’t, making Bolin open his eyes as wide as he can, “You’ve never done that?”

“Mako and I never got to kiss when we were dating” Asami remembers.  
“No!” Bolin shakes his head, “I mean, you’re each other best friends, right?”

They nod, and Korra suddenly gasps, “You thought Asami and I kissed?”

They are generally affective of each other, hold hands, kiss each other on the cheeks, sleep with their legs intertwined, so of course more than once their lips are closer than they should have been, but Asami usually pulls away and they continue talking as if nothing.

“To be honest, you’re both so attached that I could swear you already had sex” Opal confesses and takes another sip from her glass Bolin agrees, “Not even a friend kiss?” and she can feel Korra’s eyes on her for a second, which makes her feel bold.

“I mean, we could kiss right now” she stumbles and turns around to look at Korra, “If that’s fine by you”

Korra thinks it for a moment but slowly nods, “It’s fine by me”

They both slowly bow with an air of doubt, but stop when their lips are parted and so close to each other that Asami can feel Korra's heavy breathing. She wonders how their friendship can be changed, in whether Korra was doing it because she wanted to or to shut up her friends.

But her doubts are the last thing on her mind when Korra suddenly places her hand behind her neck and finally closes the gap by moving her lips gently, allowing Asami to savor the alcohol mixed with the salt from the chips they were eating for a few moments before breaking the kiss. However, she takes a long time to assimilate it, remaining stupefied in the same place with her lips still with the ghost of Korra’s.

She has kissed multiple times, in all the ways she knows and with all the people she has wanted to do, but none feels as good as what just happened, none have ever felt so correct.

“Damn that was intense” Bolin laughs.

**and**

Asami is not quite sure whether to thank Opal, or curse her, because after the first kiss they cannot stop. On the way back to college Korra says nothing about the kiss, but as soon as Asami leaves the others in their dorms and only they are left, Korra rushes in to kiss her again.

Her body is in the driver's seat of her car parked in Korra's dorms, but her mind is beyond the galaxy as Korra again holds her neck, and she holds her cheek so she can get more control. It is not a soft and scary kiss like the one at night, but passionate.

Finally they say goodbye and Asami thinks that the next day they are going to talk about it, but they don't. They don't do it in all the weeks that follow either, because they don't even talk anymore, because they take all the possible spaces to kiss each other, even Korra once takes her to the dressing room, risking their privacy.

However, as much as she enjoys it, Asami can't help but overthink the situation without asking Korra anything specific for fear of losing what they have. She needs to know the true intentions of it all, to know if Korra is into her as much as she is into Korra. Because it's the truth that she's been ignoring all those months since their lunch. She likes Korra. She likes her a little too much. She likes her more than he should, more than is healthy to. She can't go to the museum without thinking about Korra every time she sees a work of art, she can't spend weekends at her father's house without wishing Korra to be there with her, she can't just erase her feelings because she has let them too far and now Korra has become what she loves the most, she has become her world.

She needs to talk to someone soon or she’s going to explode, and of course Mako is perfect for the job, so find a space between their final exam studies, Mako's work and Asami and Korra’s kissing sessions, to get together.

“What’s so important that you’re stealing my studying time?” Mako growls, but deep down she knows he is as worried as his father would be if she had also called him at three in the morning crying.

“I know you’re friends with Korra too,” she sighs while closing her eyes, “but you really need to promise me to keep this between us”

He frowns but still nods, “Tell me whatever it is”

“I-I’m in love with Korra” her voice trembles, “And we have a weird thing going on and we don’t talk about it and I’m slowly going mad”

Before she can stop him, crying takes her and Mako runs to her side to hug her, letting tears soak his blue shirt, “So she likes you too?”

She sobs, “Not exactly, I don’t know. We just kiss and don’t say anything about it and I’m losing my best friend. I don’t care if we stop the kisses, but I really don’t want to lose her too”

Mako takes a deep breath, “Asami, you should talk to her as soon as possible before is too late, before you get deeper into it and she gets bored. I’m with you, ok? If she decides to go away, I will still be here next to you. I’m not a great swimmer, but if you keep crying like this I will start taking classes”

“But I’m scared”

“Remember when we used to date?” Mako inquires, not really expecting an answer, “We were taking lunch together and you just jumped into it, in front of everyone. You weren’t scared, and that’s the Asami I know, and the Asami that you need to be right now”

And that's just what Asami is determined to do when she knocks on Korra's door. She hears footsteps from inside, and finally the girl with blue eyes and an ear-to-ear smile opens the door for him. She is wearing the blue tank top and the sports shorts that Asami gave her for her birthday.

“Asami! I wasn’t waiting for you so early”

She knows. But she can’t spend any other second overthinking it.

Korra steps aside to let her in, and she wonders how long it has been since she first came in to watch movies. The room smells like mint and lavender, which is basically Korra. Strong and soft at the same time. 

On the bed is Korra's guitar decorated with stickers that Asami had helped her print, and she worries that she has interrupted her practice.

“So you’re just going to stay in silent like a creep?” Korra giggles, closing the door slowly, “What’s going on?”

“I think we have to talk” finally gathers her strength, and Korra looks beyond confused, “About the whole kissing thing”

“What about it? Is there a problem?”

It is Korra's soft and confused tone that makes her explode.

“What about it!? Korra, we’ve doing this a whole month, and every time I try to talk about it you shut me up with another kiss” she flaps her arms in the air, making Korra see how desperate she is, “I like it, I like it very much, I like you Korra, but this is killing me. You don’t talk to me and just act like it doesn’t happen, and I don’t know if you want me for something real or if you’re just using me”

Korra opens her mouth slightly to say something, but ends it closing after a few moments. She thinks Korra is just going to shut her up with a kiss, and she is completely sure that if that happens she would let it go.

But it doesn’t happen.

Korra continues standing in front of her when her calm voice echoes in the room, “Do you like me?”

The fury in her body seems to disappear at the question, her shoulders losing tension, “Very fucking much, since the first day I saw you in that pool”

Korra nods softly, walking to the bed and patting it to invite her to seat by her side, which she does. They both are heavy breathing, but there is no tension in the air, just a dense presence of silence.

“I like you too” she finally sobs, using the back of her hand to wipe away her tears, “I like you since that day too, I-, just had a feeling we were going to be something and when we were I just wanted more, and-and Opal gave me the opportunity. I thought you just thought of it as a game, but when you didn’t stop the kiss in the car I saw the opportunity of having just a little bit of your heart, and I was afraid that if I pushed your boundaries you would run away”

Asami takes a few seconds before placing her hand on top of Korra's.

“What do you want to do about this?”

She knows that she is willing to whatever happens, even if it is to be separated by the damage that has been done by trying not to be hurt. She knows that she is willing to do whatever it takes to make Korra happy again.

“Spend Christmas with me”

**and**

Things seem to be slowly coming into place although they are not seen in the final exam week until both are finally free. Asami has agreed to go to the Southern Water Tribe with Korra, who confesses that she has been talking about her to her parents for a long time and they already love her and will be happy to know they are into something.

Because the thing is that they still don't really know what they are, not because they haven't talked about it but because they don't feel like girlfriends but they don't feel like just friends either, and Asami had not seen it as a particular problem until Korra offered to go with her to tell her father about her trip.

They are sitting in the office of their father, who will arrive soon from a business meeting according to the servants. Korra sways gently in her chair.

“What? Are you nervous?” she teases.

“It's not every day that you meet the most powerful man in the city, much less when you've been having a rare kind of romance with his daughter”

“You could think better of it before you got into this” Asami points her face, trying to get another nervous defense that doesn’t comes because of her dad entering the office.

It has only been her and her father since at the age of six, her mother died in a traffic accident by a drunken firefighter, so their relationship is very close and almost with not secrets about Asami's decisions.

“Darling! What a surprise” her father hugs her.

Asami had been trying to visit him on the weekends to play board games, help him with ideas for new models of cars and electronics, and of course, just spending time together; but with her weird feelings and the finals, it had been a couple of days without seeing each other.

“Dad, this is Korra” she says as soon as he lets her go, Korra raising her hand firm as she wasn’t panicking moments ago, “Korra this is my dad, Hiroshi”

Hiroshi leans in to shake hands, frowning, “You’re Korra the water tribe’s swimmer, right?”

Unlike her, her dad is a sports enthusiast, even being a sponsor of her college teams. Korra quickly blushes at the recognition, and even when she likes to see her like that, she knows is better is she just jumps into it.

“Korra and I are dating and we’re going to spend Christmas”

Her father is frozen for a moment, trying to assimilate the words one by one. Despite their good relationship, Asami had never told her about the people she was dating.

“I’m not asking for your permission, I’m just letting you know”

It is her firm and defensive tone that makes her father come back to reality, “No, no darling. I- I think this is wonderful you’ve finally met someone and- of course I support you with this decision.

She feels the muscles of her face relax, “Really?”

The three of them spend the rest of the day together, Korra and her father talking about swimming and competition and Asami looking at them with joy. She is so happy that even when they come back from dinner, she allows herself to kiss Korra, something they haven't done since they told the truth. They did not want to rush things.

But the day of the flight arrives and after many movies and Korra's soft snoring on her shoulder, she finally meets her in-laws. 

She is not surprised at all by the couple because Korra is their perfect combination. The man waits for them smiling with a sign that says 'Welcome home, Polar Bear' and the woman runs to them.

“It’s so lovely to see you, my love, Naga is waiting for you at home” the woman tells Korra, with her hands on her cheeks and then turns her face to her “You must be Asami, Korra has told us a lot about you”

She blushes, nodding, “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs”

The woman's husband appears from behind, waving his hand through the air, “You’re part of our family now, Asami, call us by our names, Senna and Tonraq”

And it turns out that they are as warm as Korra too, riding their suitcases to the car and explaining what is in the city on their way to the big house whose decoration was based on traditional designs and photos, medals and trophies of Korra. Senna shows her the room where she is going to stay, where the bathroom is and where she can store her clothes, because Korra runs towards a big white dog as soon as they open the door.

“This is Naga,” she said, patting the dog on the head, “Naga, this is Asami”

So far she likes everything about the place, especially the food that Senna serves when dinnertime comes. They are at the table, Korra seated next to Asami while Tonraq explains a little about his duties as Chief and his pride that Korra has decided to attend university.

“But mostly we’re happy that she found you” Senna adds, smiling widely, “I can see you two are great friends”

They are holding hands under the table and can feel Korra's hand starting to sweat despite the cold.

“The thing is, mom” she clears her throat, “Asami and I aren’t just friends”

A cold runs down her spine at the momentary silence of Korra's parents, but suddenly Senna bursts out laughing and Tonraq hides his face in his hands. She turns to see her best friend and doesn't feel calmer seeing her confused.

“What’s going on?” inquires Korra, but she doesn’t receive an answer until Senna stops laughing.

“Honey, I’ve known since the first day you told me about her” she takes her husband’s hand, “Your father bet that you two were just friends”

She tries to steer clear, especially when Tonraq straightens up to enter the conversation “I just wanted to imagine you weren't so obvious, love. But I am happy for you”

“Yes, we are your parents Korra, and we love anyone who loves you,” Senna winks at Asami.

After that they don't keep pushing that conversation, starting to talk about experiences on campus and about their other friends. Asami helps Korra wash the dishes, although Senna has told her that it is not necessary, and Korra accompanies her to the door of her room.

“Thank you for being here with me” she says leaning against the doorframe, “I now is not easy to be in the literal pole with my parents, so thank you”

“It’s not a job,” she shrugs, “I really like to know where you come from”

Korra smiles lowering her head and starts swinging from one foot to the other, “Asami, I know is not usual for people to say this after everything we’ve been through, but today I realized I never took you on a date”

She opens her mouth by surprise, but quickly takes the opportunity to tease the girl, “Are you implying you want to take me out?”

So they do that the next day. After getting up, Asami takes a shower and meets them in the kitchen for breakfast, helps wash the dishes, and rides Tonraq's car with Korra in the co-pilot seat. It's a heavy truck, but years of experience testing her father's company cars work, allowing her to follow her almost-girlfriend's directions to a frozen lake where children and adults are skating.

“What are we doing here?” she raises an eyebrow, parking the car.

“You’ll see”

She has skated in the past, but never on ice. She doesn't even know how to keep her balance if Korra doesn't grab her hands, and just the thought of advancing terrifies her.

“Come on, Asi, it’s all about the balance,” she imitates her voice

“Balance sounds a bit tricky when you literally have blades on your feet”

When they finish — because Asami doesn't think she can take another fall — they decide to go through the plaza to have hot chocolate and give Korra the opportunity to buy her parents' gifts.

“And what about my gift?” she teases.

“On my bag” Korra responds without looking at her, “What about mine?”

“Looks like we have the same brain cell” she chuckles.

She has not celebrated Christmas properly since her mother's death, because her father is not the most festive person and merely gives her a gift and dinner. She knows he tries, and she loves him for it, but it does not compare with the ostentatious decoration of Korra's house or the feast with the rest of the relatives who apparently take the news well.

They gather under the tree to exchange gifts, receiving lucky charms from Senna and Tonraq, for whom she had bought a wine from her father's vineyard. They welcome her in a hug that is interrupted by Korra, who holds a box wrapped in bear-themed paper.

Asami carefully opens it not to break the envelope, and cries out as she looks what it is, throwing herself into Korra's arms

“What is this that?” Desna, Korra’s cousin, frowns and Asami takes a deep breath.

“I write in the school daily, that’s how Korra and I met,” she looks up, trying not to cry, “And Lin Beifong is my favorite journalist ever, she runs a publishing house and Korra got me a letter of her saying she’s interested in my columns”

The boy opens his mouth pretending to understand and Korra scratches the back of her head, “It was not easy to get a meeting with her, but when she read Asami's publications she was so delighted to publish it that she gave in to my request to write it down on paper”

Asami gives her another hug, resisting to kissing Korra in front of her parents because she knows the girl is going to die from embarrassment.

“It’s my turn,” she announces, pulling out a red velvet box from her pocket, making everyone in the room gasp in surprise and causing a blush on all of her face, “No, no, no, no! No. It is not a marriage proposal, we are far from that”

The tanned girl gently nods and takes the box in her hands, “It’s a snowflake necklace”

Korra had only mentioned wanting a necklace once in all those months. They were in the mall looking for a gift for Opal.

“You said that you could never find one that was perfect for you,” she smiles softly, “But I could, I- I chose the snowflake because it represents all that you are, totally unique and special, it is hard but melts with time, and above all, you are basically water”

Korra hangs her hands around her neck and kisses her as a way to say thanks without saying a word, because she says those words at night when she sneaks into her room and they talk about how amazing it has been to meet each other, and that they wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

**and**

Their vacation ends, and she says goodbye to Korra's parents telling them they have the best daughter on the world planet and that she will do everything possible to take care of her.

“Did you enjoy it?” Korra asks on the plane.

“Every second”

And they return to their normal lives, resuming swimming practices, their morning routine, studying until they feel like their eyes are going to fall, Korra writing songs her, going out to the university bars at night, meeting to watch movies with their friends. Asami feels that there has not been a better time in her life, but still one morning when she wakes up next to Korra, she realizes that she does not have Korra, as she would like.

It is not that she has a real need to name what they have, just having the swimmer sleeping with her face on her neck has more than she could have imagined, but still, she does not want to feel that it was something that only it happened. She doesn't want it to be a fluke. She wants to feel that they are one of the other totally, and not have to present her as the girl she is dating, but as her girlfriend.

Girlfriend. Girlfriend.

The words in her mouth taste as good as Korra's kisses.

“What are you thinking about?” the tan girl questions, resting her arms on the edge of the pool.

“In Wu’s concert” she lies, not wanting to admit she’s thinking about them, “I need to go to my dorm and change my clothes”

“That’s fine by me, I could go for you at nine, maybe?”

Asami kisses her goodbye and takes advantage of her time alone to bathe, groom and watch one of her favorite series until Korra knocks on her door dressed in her usual crop tops, revealing her perfect abdomen.

They walk together to the small bar and meet their friends and one or another classmate. The atmosphere is comfortable, with a couple of people smoking in the open area, musical decorations on the dark walls and a smell of wood, especially around the stage, where they end up sitting.

“I’m really hoping this is as good as Mako told us it would be” Korra giggles.

But to their luck, Wu's voice ends up being much better than they expect. He sings a couple of songs of his own where they dance with their friends, until he makes a pause to drink water.

“So,” he starts talking, capturing their attention, “Today I received a request and it turns out to be for a good cause, the next song is a cover of a song I happen to love so much”

_My love was as cruel as the cities I lived in_

Asami feels Korra's hand on her lower back and turns to look at her, meeting bright eyes and a smile that she could kiss over and over again.

“Can you give me this dance?”

And she doesn't even have to answer, taking her best friend's hand and leading her to a space where they have enough room to move slightly, Korra's hands on her waist and hers behind her neck. Asami's heart begins to pound so hard that she feels she no longer has enough chest for it when their eyes meet. It is not a feeling she wants to ever end.

“Asami” Korra says softly, and suddenly she cannot produce words, so she just hums, “I know that I have no experience with relationships, that the days I do nothing I do not bathe, that I am the worst surfer in history and that I never think about things before I do them, but I want you to know that nobody could love you as much as I do it”

Asami feels tears begin to form at the edge of her eyes. It is not the first time they have said those words, but it is the first time that it feels real. The first time they say it that way.

“Asami, I know that I am not an easy person, that I lose my patience and cry a lot and I don't like to talk about my feelings, but nothing would make me happier than being by your side, as your girlfriend.

“I thought you never were to fucking say it” she bursts out, almost crying with excitement and almost laughing at how cute her girlfriend looks.

**and**

She even writes in the newspaper about how wonderful it is to start a relationship when both people feel it is right, how wonderful it is to wait for things to happen, and how beautiful it is to let everything blossom. In the hallways, even people who recognize her congratulate her, saying they're happy that at least one of her articles isn't about poisonous social criticism.

And the fact is that she doesn't even feel like the old Asami who used to fight for everything, but she deduces the change is a product of the sweetness of Korra's lips

“I could never get tired of kissing you” she recognizes one of those rainy afternoons when the two of them stay in Asami's room to do as they please. She is under Korra, who with her knees supports herself so as not to drop her weight on her.

“We could do more than just kissing, you know?” Korra says in a shy voice and she can’t believe what she’s hearing.

All this time they have only been kissing, because even though she wants _it_ more than anything, Asami knows that Korra has never been with anyone else and does not want to pressure her to be. They are both hothead people who act before thinking, but in their relationship everything is different.

“What do you mean?” she pretends not to understand, making Korra blush even more.

But instead of answering, Korra places her honey-flavored lips on Asami's, carefully positioning one of her hands on her waist. And she knows what Korra wants, and she knows that she can give it to her, so for the first time she lets the kiss create a vibe of desire in the room, placing her hands on Korra's thighs to turn she over and be on top.

Asami tries to stay calm, but still can't help but feel like she's about to explode when Korra drops her kisses to her jaw and runs down her neck. She has been wanting it for so long, she has been imagining it for so long, that she does not know if it is real life or another of the scenarios of her mind.

But it’s pretty fucking real.

She realizes when they start undressing each other between kisses and deep breaths, because there is no possible way that her body created Korra's body. There is no way she would have designed her breasts, much less the space between her legs.

Their bodies are filled with soft bites and phantom kisses, Korra's hands on Asami's face as she details every inch of her body with the yam of her fingers. 

Even when she dies, the electricity produced by her touch will continue to live.

Her lips slide down her girlfriend's abdomen and stop for a moment before tasting her, causing Korra to moan and place her fingers on her dark hair.

The sheets are thrown all over the place, and they're so caught up in their bubble that they don't know if hours or minutes have passed. Everything is a new experience for both of them and they wish that it never end, or at least it is what Asami does when she introduces her fingers into her and Korra bites her shoulder to muffle the moans, and what she does again when the first part is over and Korra is below her trying to catch her breath and she looks gorgeous with messy hair, sweaty forehead, sparkling eyes and pink cheeks.

“I’m so happy to be with you” Korra says between breaths.

And she is happy too.

The happiest she has ever been.

**and**

She is in the company office when she receives an important call that makes her file the day's work and say goodbye to her secretary to take her car.

City traffic is a chaos and more than once she has to put her finger on a useless driver, but that does not prevent her from going to the premises and reaching her destination, a big house on the outskirts of the city, on time. One of the employees opens the door for her and Asami gives him the cake, asking him to put it on the backyard’s table.

She takes off the black blazer she was wearing and that's when she notices that the house is in an unusual silence, “I know you are there, dummies”

Chorus groans echo in the living room and immediately two kids and her wife emerge from behind the sofa. 

It had taken them three years to marry, and two years to decide to start a family. Obviously things had not been easy, especially with the tight schedule of both, but they have known how to keep things afloat, and above all they have known how to be mothers of the best three children in the universe.

One of the twins, Gyo, approaches her with little jumps.

“Mommy, mommy, did you know that Ronna and I were born the same day?”

Asami giggles, stroking his smooth black hair “Yes, honey I know, why don’t you go play together while your friends come?”

  
The children do not need any further instructions to run to the backyard, and she takes advantage of their absence to approach to kiss her wife.

“I missed you so much” Korra confesses, placing her hands on her waist.

“Me too” she pulls away from her a little, “Where’s Hiroshi?”

Some time after learning that she had finally become pregnant, her father suffered a heart attack in his office. Their loss was immense, and they decided to change the name they had chosen for the name of the man who had given her life. In the second pregnancy, in which it was Korra's turn to carry the babies, they took it more relaxed, deciding the names playing rock, paper or scissors.

“He thinks that six is too old to be in a party full of four years olds, so he’s in his room since I brought them home after my practice”

Life has undoubtedly advanced for both of them in an unimaginable way, Korra even had the opportunity to hang more Olympian nickings on her wall, and Asami had one of the most important inventions of the century and both had created their beautiful home with each piece of their hearts. They have done it together.

“What are you thinking about?” Korra asks, removing the unruly hair on her forehead, and she takes the moment to hold her wife's hand and give her a little kiss.

“I’m thinking about us”


End file.
